Board in Focus
Spring 2008
From the Chairman
This update is part of a series of regular updates from the Board of B&E designed to provide you with information on the activities of the Board and on topics of relevance to B&E. I hope that you find this update interesting as well as informative.
Nigel Harris
Chairman
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of B&E will be held at 4.00pm on Monday, October 27, 2008 at
Current directors, Nigel Harris and Mac Russell, will present for re-election. Other proposed business will be the receipt of annual reports and the remuneration of directors.
All members are welcome to attend.
Annual Results
Our annual results will be released on Thursday, September 25, 2008. Our full results will be published on our website at this time.
Board Changes
Long serving director John Bonney recently resigned from the Board after 21 years service as a director. In announcing Mr. Bonney’s retirement, the Board paid tribute to his contribution and service to the Board.
B&E Ltd Chairman, Nigel Harris, said “John has been very active as a director over a long period of time in adding value to the Board and to the overall success of B&E. He is held in the highest regard by all of our directors and his contribution to board deliberations and activities will be missed.”
Mr. Bonney’s service as a director with B&E started in 1987 when he was appointed to the board of Bass Building Society. He was an active participant in the merger in 1988 with Equitable, to form Bass and Equitable, which was later renamed as B&E.
During his 21 years on the Board, Mr Bonney served as Chairman for three years and on numerous occasions served as Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee.
In April, well known
Mr Russell is a co-founder of Russell Smith Electrical, a large electrical and communications contractor based in
In announcing Mr. Russell’s appointment to the Board, Chairman Nigel Harris said that Mr. Russell would bring extensive business and management experience to the Board.
“Mac is a very well known and respected businessman with excellent networks throughout
Extension of CEO’s Contract
The Board has decided to extend the employment contract for our CEO, Paul Ranson, until July 2012.
Paul has been CEO of B&E since 2005 and in that time has helped bring a stronger strategic focus to our operations as well as maintain strong business results. With Paul at the helm, supported by a talented and committed team of executives, the Board is of the view that B&E is well placed to continue to be successful into the future.
Policy Development and Reviews
The regulatory requirements for financial institutions continue to increase. In recognition of this the Board spends considerable time reviewing existing policies and where required developing new policies:
Work that has been conducted this calendar year includes:
- Undertaking Fit and Proper Assessments for all Responsible Officers
- Review of Capital Adequacy, Liquidity and Market Risk Policies
- Review of Data Risk, Operations Risk, Fraud Policy and Outsourcing Policies, including Annual Risk Assessment
- Review of Accounting Policy
- Review Constitution, Board Charter, Corporate Governance and Fit and Proper policies
Board Appraisal and Succession
Our regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), has established a Governance Policy that requires the Board to conduct an annual performance appraisal and maintain a succession plan for Directors.
This work was undertaken during March and April, involving an appraisal of the performance of the Board, self appraisal by each individual director and peer appraisal for each director. The results were considered by the Board at a weekend workshop in April and areas for improvement have been identified and have now been actioned.
The Board has also reviewed the Succession Plan for Directors. While the election of Directors is ultimately a responsibility of members, the plan meets our regulatory requirements of identifying the competencies needed collectively by Directors and will guide the process of filling any vacancies along with reviewing the fitness and propriety of members who stand for election.